More than just an ADG specialist in the Cruise world

Tue, 02/20/2018

Ronnie van Haperen on the job

How could Croonwolter&dros Marine & Offshore establish its reputation as worldwide specialist in integrating ADG deck houses on cruise ships? Project leader Ronnie van Haperen explains that there is hardly a secret behind it. “Demand for ADG deck houses grows as cruise ships are upgraded. We start off with a sound design and carry it out properly and integrally. At the customer's wishes we go the extra mile by delivering additional integration services.”

The Holland America Line (HAL) cruise ship Eurodam was the first vessel on which Croonwolter&dros Marine & Offshore installed an Additional Diesel Generator (ADG) Deck house.HAL is a company of the global Carnival Corporation & plc. In the cruise market, Croonwolter&dros has since built a reputation in the integration of ADG Deck houses. Many comparable assignments for, among others, Carnival UK (P&O Cruises and Cunard), P&O Cruises Australia,Carnival Cruise Line and Costa followed.

Ronnie van Haperen, project leader at Croonwolter&dros: “We typically provide turn-key ADG deck houses. Every class and ship needs a different configuration, so we design it made-to-measure. The deck house, a construction weighing 45 to 70 tons, is entirely built in the Netherlands., Generator set, switch boards, panels, fire safety measures and communications are all put in place. Once finished and fully tested, the ADG deck house is shipped to a dry dock or ship in operation somewhere around the globe. On site the deck house is integrated with the ship, including necessary reinforcements to the ship's construction, cabling, control and automation, commissioning and handover.”

Maintenance partner for absolute components in switch boards

On recent projects regarding three ships of Carnival Australia, Croonwolter&dros was asked to go a step further, Van Haperen recounts: “On the Carnival Australia ships we replaced the existing Emergency Diesel Generators (EDG’s) for new EDG’s, with more capacity required for the Water Mist System. We upgraded and extended the existing Emergency Switchboards. We replaced and upgraded all controls in the Emergency Switchboards, and the cabling and switchboards which are necessary for the power supply of the new water mist system on board. The execution period of those projects were in a dry dock period of 8 days. Safety regulations have become more severe and some company's policies go beyond regulations. A particular reason to install an ADG deck house is to provide the power supply for a water mist system on board. Carnival Corporation & plc. has adopted this provision as obligatory on all the ships in its fleet without ‘Safe Return to Port.“Currently these systems are added for extra safety. All cruise ships are already equipped with CO2 fire extinguishing systems. But these can only be switched on after people have been evacuated. In order to contain a fire during an evacuation, a water mist system is added.”When the ADG deck house is put in place, it can be connected to the main switchboard. In this way, it can be used as a backup for the main power supply. Van Haperen: “There is even a third use for the ADG. The emergency switchboard is fed by its own emergency diesel generator. But what if that generator fails? The ADG can be connected to feed the emergency switchboard as well, thus further ruling out electrical system failure. A back up for the back up so to speak.”

Straightforward

How has Croonwolter&dros been able to establish itself an ADG deck house specialist? Van Haperen knows the answer from the feedback he gets from customers: “The fact that we combine design and construction of the deck house with electrical engineering and installation makes us stand out. The customer has only one contact for the entire project from panel building, through class approval and Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) to Site Acceptance Testing (SAT). Furthermore, there is the optional integration with other on board systems. Maybe even more importantly: we are straightforward. We say what we do and we do as we say.